With Real Time Chat, property seekers and property owners are just a click away

MagicBricks powers Lead Generation and quickens Purchase Decision Making with real-time chat.

With Real Time Chat, property seekers and property owners are just a click away

MagicBricks introduced their mobile version in April 2011 with a host of intuitive features to make property search easier. Soon they witnessed a growing community of millions of users buying, renting and leasing out properties on their platform. The crucial part here was to bring connectivity between this varied set of users. While traditional modes like phone, SMS and 3rd party IP-messaging did exist, these modes are susceptible to data loss, hampers user privacy and causes poor UX. The workaround was the integration of a comprehensive real time Messaging System into the MagicBricks platform, built on the Applozic framework. The end result of which is:

20%

Increase in Lead Generation on MB mobile app

The Challenge

For online marketplaces, like MagicBricks that offers Listing and Directory Services communication between the stakeholders (Buyer & Seller) plays a major role. A seller makes a listing here expecting more leads and faster conversion rates and a typical buyer is more likely to chat with the seller before making a purchase decision. Also data suggests that if an inquiry is answered within 5 minutes, the probability of conversion is 100 times higher. Considering these factors, the need for MagicBricks was of a real time communication mode. Recently we had the opportunity to interview Vidya Nand, Product Manager at MagicBricks Mobile Group. He pointed out that users want communication to be non-intrusive and at the same time it has to be real-time. This posed a major challenge and the best solution they could think of was to integrate a real time messaging system into the MagicBricks platform.

ABOUT

MagicBricks is the leading real estate search portal of the country. Running on a simple intuitive interface, it puts all complex parameters of property search under one roof. Intelligent filters allow property seekers to search and shortlist from over half a million properties and with In-app chat they can contact the owner with a simple tap of a button. MagicBricks makes finding your new home as easy as tapping a few buttons on your smartphones.

“Building a robust and intuitive Messaging System would have taken few months. The team at Applozic made integration a breeze and with their messaging platform, we were able to build something quickly that serves our millions of users; it works great and looks great too.”

- Puneet Kukreja, Associate Product Head – MagicBricks

The Solution

Vidya mentioned that the beauty of in-app chat is that it is non-intrusive and at the same time instantaneous and real-time. He also pointed out that Chat as a mode of communication helps them ensure the privacy of their users, unlike other modes where sharing personal details of users is a requisite. When asked how exactly does MagicBricks leverage and benefit from In-app Chat, Vidya said that Chat is a major source of Lead Generation on the mobile app. It helps in targeting the segment of users who are in the initial phase of the buying cycle, and have basic queries related to price, availability etc. The number of chats initiated hence acts as a counter for the number of leads generated. Thus the chat feature comes as a win-win for all 3 stakeholders involved. Seller gets more Leads with faster conversion rates, a Buyer gets the convenience of real-time messaging making the purchase process seamless and the directory service provider gains more engagement and retention due to operational efficiency.